Geat Goet Gouda

  

"The etymology of the name Geat (Old English Geatas, from a Proto-Germanic *Gautaz, plural *Gautōz) is similar to that of Goths and Gutes (*Gutô, plural *Gutaniz).  

The names derive from ablaut grades of the Proto-Germanic word *geutaną, meaning "to pour". They have the literal meaning "they who pour their seed". 

Götaland  

(Swedish: [ˈjø̂ːtaˌland] ⓘ; also Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland or Gautland) is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. 

Götaland once consisted of petty kingdoms, and their inhabitants were called Gautar in Old Norse. However, the term mainly referred to the population of modern Västergötland.  

It is agreed that these were the same as the Geats, the people of the hero Beowulf in England's national epic, Beowulf.  

The name Götaland is possibly a plural construction and means the "lands of the Geats", where Göta- is the genitive plural of the ethnonym Göt (Geat). 

The earliest possible mentions of the götar is by the 2nd-century geographer Ptolemy, who mentions the Goutai (Γούται in Greek)."

 I had a dream a few mornings ago, it ended with a figure positioned almost just like this, standing atop an eagle 

I think 

The image stuck in my mind, and voila. Here it is. 

___ 

"Because of Gotland's central position in the Baltic Sea, from early on the Gutes became a nation of traders and merchants. The amount of silver treasure that has been found in Gotlandic soil during the Viking Age surpasses that of all the other Swedish provinces counted together, which tells of a traders' nation of indisputable rank among the North Germanic tribes. "

"The Gutes were both yeomen farmers and traveling merchants at the same time: so-called farmenn. This was an exceptionally dangerous occupation during the Middle Ages, since the Baltic Sea was full of pirates. The Gutnish farmenn always had to be ready for battle " 

"It is related that because of overpopulation one third of the Gutes had to emigrate and settle in southern Europe:"

"Over a long time, the people descended from these three multiplied so much that the land couldn't support them all. 

Then they draw lots, and every third person was picked to leave, and they could keep everything they owned and take it with them, except for their land.  

... they went up the river Dvina, up through Russia. They went so far that they came to the land of the Greeks. ... they settled there, and live there still, and still have something of our language."  

"The Geatish kings, however, belong to the domain of Norse mythology. Both Västergötland and Östergötland have large agricultural areas. It was along the coasts and at the agricultural areas as people settled down, villages and towns grew up and the population grew fastest.  

The large river Göta Älv drains the third largest lake in Europe, Lake Vänern.  

With its surface located at 44 metres (144 ft) 

 with a maximum depth of 106 metres (348 ft), the lowest point of the Vänern basin is at 62 metres  

(203 ft) below sea level.   "

"The modern lake was formed after the Quaternary glaciation about 10,000 years ago; when the ice melted, the entire width of Sweden was covered in water, creating a strait between Kattegat and the Gulf of Bothnia. 

 Due to the fact that ensuing post-glacial rebound surpassed concurrent sea-level rise, lake Vänern became a part of the Ancylus Lake that occupied the Baltic basin. Vänern was connected to Ancylus Lake by a strait at Degerfors, Värmland. Further uplifting made lakes such as Vänern and Vättern become cut off from the Baltic. 

 As a result, there are still species remaining from the ice age not normally encountered in freshwater lakes, such as the amphipod Monoporeia affinis" 

The most common birds near Vänern are terns and gulls.

Great cormorants have returned and are flourishing. This has contributed to the increase in the population of white-tailed sea eagles, who feed on cormorants. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A4nern

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gutes 

Bloetgoet, Jan Hendricxss

17,102v 11- 3-1633 huikmaker,poorter van Gouda

"Hui ( c ) maker, huucmaker , hoocmaker , hoykemaker . A huikmaker is someone who made hoods . 

This garment was a cape-like co without sleeves, a garment that was worn by both women and men.  

This garment was primarily worn in Germany and the Netherlands generally in the sixteenth century and lasted until the middle of the seventeenth century." 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouda,_South_Holland 

"Around the year 1100, the area of present-day Gouda was swampy and covered with a peat forest, crossed by small creeks such as the Gouwe. Along the shores of this stream near the current market and city hall, peat harvesting began in the 11th and 12th centuries.  

In the 13th century, the Gouwe was connected to the Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) by means of a canal and its mouth at the Hollandse IJssel was developed into a harbour. Castle Gouda was built to protect this harbour. 

 This shipping route was used for trade between Flanders and France with Holland and the Baltic Sea. In 1272, Floris V, Count of Holland, granted city rights to Gouda, which by then had become an important location. City-canals (Dutch: grachten were dug and served as transport ways through the town.

1551 marked the founding of the oldest still-functioning inn, De Zalm, located on Markt 34, near the historic Waag building. 

In the last quarter of the 16th century, Gouda had serious economic problems. It recovered in the first half of the 17th century and even prospered between 1665 and 1672."

 

The stained glass windows were made and installed primarily by the brothers Dirk and Wouter Crabeth I, in the years 1555-1571. After a short stop for the Protestant Reformation, more windows were installed until 1603, but by other artists.  

During the Reformation the church was spared, because the city fathers sided with the reigning king Philip II of Spain, rather than William the Silent, representing the Orange rebels. 

 Later, after the Orangists conquered the northern half of Holland, Gouda reverted to Orange in 1572. It was only during this period that the church was in danger, and three weeks later an angry mob stormed the church and plundered the contents, but left the windows intact. 

 The church was closed, but many wealthy regents of the city attempted to have it reopened. In 1573 the Gouda council prohibited the practice of Roman Catholic religion and in the summer it was opened for the Protestant Dutch Reformed faith, which it still has today.  

The windows from before 1573, the Catholic windows, show scenes from the Bible and the Apocrypha, a collection of Jewish literature included in the Catholic Bible. Among other stories, these windows portray the stories of the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon, Judith and Holofernes, the punishment of Heliodorus, the birth of John the Baptist, and the birth and baptism of Jesus. There are two windows in the choir depicting Jesus on the Mount. Dirk and Wouter Crabeth designed most of these windows. Many of the early windows were paid for by powerful Catholic individuals or groups. Among them were Philip II of Spain and the Canon Priests of Oude Munster.  

The later, Protestant windows mostly show scenes from contemporary battles and metaphorical scenes relating to the political situation of the time. While there are still some religious and biblical scenes among these windows, only one specifically portrays Jesus, whereas the pre-Calvinist windows have seven scenes containing the Son of God. The Protestant windows depict the siege of Leiden, the siege of Samaria, and two coats of arms from the Rhineland. 

In 1939 the stained glass was removed in anticipation of war with Germany. 

 Later during the war, in 1944, when 51,000 men were called for service from Schiedam and Rotterdam, about 

 2800 were marched to Gouda, where they spent the night in this church on November 10. 

 

(Good place to visit, or move to America, from.)